There was a time, not all that long ago, when it was fairly simple to receive bad credit home loan financing. One of the major providers of such a service was Countrywide. Unfortunately, they were giving loans to high risk borrowers and eventually Bank of America took over. Countrywide were such big players in the market that their absence makes it more difficult to get bad credit home loan financing today.
But don’t lose hope. It is still possible to get this kind of financing, however it will probably take a bit more time to find what you’re looking for.
One of your first tasks is to figure out if you are really a subprime borrower or not. The quickest way to do this is by checking your credit report and finding out what your credit score is. A lot of people are happily surprised to discover their credit scores are higher than they assumed. Those with a credit score of 620 or better will most likely be able to get a traditional loan as opposed to bad credit home loan financing.
But even if you have a score that’s between 580 and 620, there is still something you can do, and that is raising your credit score. Go over your report and look for any inaccuracies that may be corrected. Also, be sure to pay all of your bills on time and try to bring down the total amount you owe all of your creditors. It may take a few months for your credit score to go up, but it will be worth it if it means getting better terms on your financing.
However, these tips may not be enough to get your score high enough, or it may be well below 580. You still may be able to get bad credit home loan financing, but you should be aware that it will come with a higher cost if you do get a loan. In the eyes of a lender, you are a higher risk, and that risk comes out of your pocket. This usually means paying a higher interest rate, and even one percentage point can add up to thousands of extra dollars over the life of your loan.
A good place to start looking is online. Go to your favorite search engine and search for «bad credit home loan financing» to see what’s out there. The internet also makes it easy to compare quotes from several lenders at the same time. You will have to enter some basic information, and then you will be presented with results from different companies. Being able to do a side by side comparison is convenient and will help you to see which offers fit in best with your current situation.
Finally, there is some good news even if you have to pay high rates for your bad credit home loan financing. If you are able to make all of your payments on time, and can improve your credit score over a period of two years, you can almost always renegotiate the terms of your agreement to make them more favorable to you.